to place her confidence, and her response to 

 affection is quick and warm and sincere. She 

 is something of a conservative and suspects 

 change. Introduce a new piece of furniture 

 into her room, and she must investigate it from 

 top to bottom and on all sides before she can 

 even pretend to be reconciled to it. Open a 

 cupboard or pull out a drawer, and her serenity 

 disappears. She has to explore the innermost 

 recesses of this new appearance delicately but 

 thoroughly. So it was with Cowper's cat : 



A drawer impending o'er the rest, 

 Half-open in the topmost chest, 

 Of depth enough, and none to spare, 

 Invited her to slumber there. 



The unconscious chambermaid shut her in, 



and it was not until the second night that the 



kind poet heard and released his inquisitive 



companion. 



%& Yet, though I hold that cats are best in a 



house, I am far from agreeing with those who 



declare that the attachment of cats is always 



